Baghdad Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein received an invitation from the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Ghada Wali, to attend an international anti-corruption conference to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA received a copy of it: “Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein met with the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ghada Wali, and discussed with her the latest regional and international developments, especially what is related to the office’s work in cases of illegal immigration, human trafficking, prison conditions, programs for rehabilitation, combating drugs in terms of mitigating supply and demand, treating addiction phenomena, and treating addicts, especially in light of the changes taking place in the Middle East and their impact on the immigration and drug files.”
The statement pointed out that the two sides discussed the files of corruption and terrorism and the urgent need for a long-term plan related to the implementation of economic reforms that contribute to the transition of the Iraqi economy to modern automation to detect corruption and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, in addition to the process of recovering Iraqi funds smuggled abroad and government efforts that contribute to this framework, as well as cooperation between Iraq and the (STAR) initiative to recover looted funds, and cooperation with the German company Siemens in combating corruption between the public and private sectors.
The statement explained that during the meeting, they also talked about the implementation of the Container Control Program (CCP) and the possibility that it would allow to Iraq in the event of signing a memorandum of understanding within the framework of organizing the work of border crossings with the help of the United Nations, as well as assisting government agencies in obtaining drug detection devices.
The Minister commended the office’s work and activities in Iraq and offered to provide all possible assistance to facilitate the office’s work in implementing the programs designated for Iraq, and extended his invitation to Mrs. Wali to visit Baghdad as soon as possible.
For her part, Ghada Wali expressed her thanks to the minister for the visit, inviting him to attend the conference of the states parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh because of its positive impact on helping Iraq in combating corruption and recovering funds.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency